Skittery's Snow Day
by Marauding Newsies
Summary: Skittery and Dutchy enjoy a day out. Light potential for slash on multiple fronts.


(Yes, I know this was poorly set-up, and I left a lot of others out. I wanted an excuse for a cute one-shot. Just enjoy the winter fluff and don't think too hard about it. ;) )

Seasons have a huge affect on the moods of newsboys. When it's summer, and the scorching heat causes trickles of sweat to dampen clothes, and undershirts stick to easily tired flesh, few are happy. Winter, with its biting cold, causes the same sentiment. No one likes being out when you can't afford a jacket. Spring and fall are when emotions run highest—romance blooms, street games are played, and the majority of people are in a good mood. Even if it had been spring, though, it is difficult to imagine that Skittery would have been in a good mood. He rarely was—at least, when compared to the others. It wasn't really that he was depressed. He just had a much more realistic outlook on the world than his fellow Manhattaners did. After all, it wasn't his fault that the knowledge of the probable death of some youngsters by winter's end wasn't exactly a pick me up. Could he be blamed for realizing that the cold would keep away potential buyers? No, of course not. The others just refused to look at facts, that was all.

Of all the Manhattaners, only one seemed to understand where he came from. Dutchy had known Skittery long enough to be able to sort through his mood swings. Even he, though, made over the top efforts to cheer him back up most days, something Skittery defied resolutely. It didn't matter what the circumstance was—the battle would be the same. Even during winter.

"Skitts? Skitts! Skittery!"

Skittery sat up fast in bed, panting, and looked around wide-eyed for Kloppman. It couldn't be time to wake up yet—there was no way! It was….he stopped, gaze focused out the window. It was still dark outside. Irritation rising steadily, he turned to focus his attention solely on the blonde bane of his existence.

"Dutchy. I will kill you."

Dutchy just grinned, dancing back from the edge of the bed and cocking his head to the side. The white curtain followed the movement, tips brushing his shoulder. "It's snowing!" He proclaimed, ignoring the rage that was directed towards him.

Skittery stared at him. "And you're happy about this? We're not gonna be able to sell a single paper! And it'll be absolutely frozen outside!…And we have no clothes! Where's the joy in this?"

Dutchy laughed and began tugging off the thin sheets. "It's gorgeous outside. Come on—there's no one to sell to, let's go for a walk."

"In the snow."

"In the snow!"

"In the dark."  
>"In the dark."<p>

"I'm going back to bed."

Skittery rolled over defiantly, curling in a ball. He heard light footsteps, and then Dutchy popped back up on the other side, still smiling in a thoroughly obnoxious manner.

"I'll pull you out of bed!"

"I'll punch you out."

He sniggered. "I'll bring the snow to you!"

Skittery growled ferally, but sat up. Dutchy would do it, and then he'd have a soaked bed to come back to. And he'd probably get sick. With this weather, he might die.

"You could kill me!" He snapped, sliding with a hard thud out of bed. "I'll get sick and die if we go walking out there. I don't have anything warm."

"Come on." Dutchy was anything but perturbed by his friend's paranoia. It was a natural by-product of being far too pessimistic.

"Where…is everyone?"

Skittery, in his quest to put as many layers as he possibly could, had quickly discovered there was no one in the bottom bunk. Further exploration revealed that barely three boys still slept. "They can't ALL be out in the snow."

Dutchy shrugged. "Jack got 'snowed in' at Dave's. We're pretty sure it's code for 'I have a warm shelter, food, and a family that adores me—screw going back to the lodging house in the snow.' Mush and Blink went to beat the crowd at Tibby's—Blink said he'd saved up for a day like this. Race never came back last night, and he had two of the little one's with him—Spot probably kept them in Brooklyn until this blows over. Specs and Snitch went to the park earlier—Snitch couldn't sleep. Bumlets…no one ever knows where he is. As for the come-n-goes…who cares?"

Skittery snorted. "Well, that's convenient. I bet you just killed them all."

Dutchy laughed, and the sound hit an odd note for just a moment before settling into warm familiarity. "Yep, that'd be just like me. Come on, I've been waiting FOREVER."

It didn't take much longer than that to convince a whining, sulking Skittery to trudge after Dutchy into the white horror that was snow. It was quickly growing light, and the weak sun caught on the falling flakes, turning them into something almost unnatural. As usual, and in defiance of Dutchy's wishes, Skittery didn't notice. He was apparently too busy contemplating how quickly it would take his hands to freeze off. Frustrated slightly by this response, Dutchy began a determined trip all over the deserted town. There had to be something somewhere that would drag his friend out of the slump. Piles of snow shoveled away from doors didn't tempt him. The icy beauty of the frozen lake was just further proof they should be indoors. Finally, defeated by negativity, he stopped, and they perched on the edge of a small wall, munching on a bag of hot popcorn they had split. Dutchy wearily turned to his friend, prepared to announce his loss, but was caught up by the expression on the other's face. For once, Skittery was quiet, gaze lost somewhere far off over the snow dunes, and the sight made Dutchy smile.

"Kinda pretty after all, hm?" He prodded, leaning back on his hands.

"Beautiful," Skittery agreed. "Freezing as hell…but yeah. It's beautiful." He turned to face the blonde, and was startled by the fond smile the boy was wearing.

"Oh, shut up. I know you were right."

Dutchy just shook his head and, reaching into the bag, pushed one of the kernels into his friend's mouth. "We should head back," he said gently.

Skittery hesitated, then turned his gaze back out over the white-trapped city. "Not…just yet."

Dutchy smiled again and nodded, leaning over and laying his head on the darker boy's shoulder. Despite the winter, both were finally happy.


End file.
